Good leadership is based on spiritual values, says Archbishop

Good business leaders are those who put spiritual values at the heart of their organisations, the Archbishop of Wales has said.

Delivering the keynote address at the Leading Wales Awards on Thursday, Dr Barry Morgan said it was important that leaders believe in the people working under them, recognise their gifts, inspire them to achieve, and value their contribution.

“The world of business often uses spiritual, even religious, language. Businesses talk about the need for vision and having a mission plan. In fact the literal meaning of the word ‘company’ is a place where people ‘share bread with each other,” he said.

“This highlights the fact that personal relationships are crucial in business. People need to feel valued and cared for as people in their own right, not as cogs in a machine.

“When that happens they feel they matter, have a contribution to make and that enhances their sense of wellbeing which in turn affects their attitude to everything and everyone else.

“This is a religious concept, because Christians maintain that that’s the attitude of God towards His people and ought to be our attitude towards one another.”

He said red tape could often hamper effective leadership, particularly in the public services, and that businesses felt “stifled” by the demands for economic rationalism and accountability.

“In the midst of recent crises we’ve realised more clearly than ever before that good leadership has a spiritual not an economic bottom line and we need more of it in the public services of Wales,” said Dr Morgan.

He encouraged leaders in Wales to work with the Welsh Assembly in transforming the country, as he praised the nominees in the awards for creating a more confident and inclusive workforce to drive the economic and social future of Wales.

It is the second year in a row that the Church in Wales has sponsored the Business Leadership Initiative in the Community category.

Canon Robin Morrison, Bishops’ Advisor on Church and Society, praised the awards for fostering new aspirations in Wales.

"The way a company relates to local communities reflects its internal spiritual architecture of people, value, trust, fulfilment and wellbeing," he said.

“The Church has a ministry of encouragement. Practical examples of good leadership really matter in local communities and one task of the Gospel is to value and encourage them wherever they are found.

"These awards encourage people to help make our communities better places.”